Panel and card carrier combination



Dec. 14, 1937. F. G. STRAUBEL PANEL AND CARD CARRIER COMBINATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 31,

FredericRL.&SZrau/bd,

Dec.. 14, 1937.

F. L. G. STRAUBEL PANEL AND CARD CARRIER COMBI NATION 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 51,

Patented Dec. 14, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFKIE Application March 31,

19 Claims.

This invention is a continuation in part of the invention disclosed in co-pending application, Serial Number 98,988, filed September 1st, 1936 and relates to card index panels such as are used in filing cabinet drawers and the like for the filing of index cards in visible, alphabetical or other order, and has particular reference to improvements in panels having card carrier elements on which the index cards are slidably and removably supported and wherein the card carrier is detachably connected with the panel to facilitate rearrangement of the cards or expansion or contraction of a card index system.

One object of the invention is to provide a simple, practical and reliable means for detachably mounting a card carrier on a guide card or panel of the type set forth in Patent 2,010,740 dated August 6, 1935, or a similar card or panel which ordinarily divides the filing space into proper subdivisions. The roll bearing type of guide card in the patent referred to particularly lends itself to the support of detachable card carriers because of the predetermined spacing of the cards afforded by the abutting side portions of the particular types of bottom keys employed.

Another object of the invention is to provide the lower end of the card carrier with a support to retain cards on the carrier, and to detachably and adjustably connect such support with the card carrier so that it may be removed to facilitate application and removal of cards to and from the card carrier, and to also support the cards at different elevations on the carrier so that they may be readily seen when, for example, only a few cards are mounted on the carrier.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become more readily apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a panel showing the application thereto of a card carrier in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure l with the card panel omitted.

Figure 3 is a detail vertical section illustrating a construction alternative to the construction illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of one of the card 1937, Serial No. 134,132

carriers and illustrating the manner of engaging the same with and from a series of index cards.

Figure 5 is a detail front elevation of the lower portion of a card carrier showing a modified type of means for connecting the card support with the carrier.

Figure 6 is a front elevation of a card carrier and a portion of its associated panel illustrating a further embodiment of the invention wherein the card support at the bottom of the carrier is adjustable.

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line l-'! of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the card support shown in Figures 6 and 7.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In the drawings the reference character A designates the guide card or panel and the reference character B designates the card carrier associated therewith. The panel A is preferably in the form of a sheet of any suitable material and is suitably formed to be placed in the filling space of a filing drawer. It may be of any desired dimensions to accommodate one or more of the card carriers B each carrying a row of index cards designated as C. Similarly the card carrier 3 in each instance may be formed from any suitable sheet material and is preferably of narrow, elongated form having its side marginal portions lfi it forwardly offset relative to its medial portion 1 I to provide a pair offlanges behind which are engageable tongues l2 struck from the index cards C to attach the cards to the carrier in the usual manner. 7

According to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the card carrier B is provided at its upper end with what may be .termed a head formation designated as 13, which is of greater width than the main body portion of the carrier and which is bent rearwardly and downwardly upon itself to provide a hook formation [3a for engagement over the upper edge portion of the card panel A, thereby to suspend the card carrier from the upper edge portion of the panel and to support the card carrier against lateral swinging or twisting movement relative to the panel. At its bottom, the card carrier is provided with a card support designated as I4. This support is preferably of substantially U shaped formation in cross section and is detachably con- 7 nected tothe card carrier as will presently more fully appear. Preferably the support is wider than the transverse width of the body of the card carrier thereby more adequately to support and accommodate the bottom portion of the lowermost card of the series of index cards engaged with the card carrier to hold the cards against sliding off the lower end of the carrier and also to support the cards against tilting relative to the carrier.

To hold the card carrier B and its interlocked card support it against upward movement relative to the panel A when the card carrier is operatively engaged with the panel, the rearwardly disposed, downwardly extending portion I3a is preferably provided with a. spring tongue 15 or its equivalent which is intended to frictionally grip the back of the panel as shown in Figure 1, or with a hole in the panel as shown in Figure 6.

Referring more particularly to Figure 1 of the drawings it will be: observed that the card support i4 includes a wall or wing l9 disposed against the back of the medial portion of the card carrier and having a hole 20 therein in which is engaged a protuberance 2! on a spring tongue 22 struck from the medial portion of the card carrier, the said spring tongue 22 pressing forwardly against the upper edge of wall or wing I9 while the protuberance 2| on the spring tongue 22 cooperates with the hole 20 in the wall or wing [9 to hold the card. support interlocked with the card carrier. As shown, the lower end portion of the card carrier extends through a slot Na in the fold or bottom of the card support whereby the bottom portion of the card support is effectively held against forward, rearward or sidewise movement relative to the carrier.

As an alternative of the construction illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, Figure 3 shows that the back wall is of the card support may have a spring tongue 23 struck therefrom for cooperation with a cross bar 24 formed in the body of the card carrier to detachably secure the card support on the carrier.

Figure 4 illustrates the manner of manipulating the card carrier with respect to the cards when the card support is removed or detached. That is to say, when the cardsupport I4 is removed froin the card carrier it is a simple matter to engage the card carrier with a plurality of nested or assembled cards C, or, on the other hand to disengage the card carrier from a row of cards simply by endwise movement of the card car ier relative to the cards in a manner which is apparent. For example, as shown in Figure 4, the group of cards C may be easily withdrawn from the card carrier by sliding the same off of the lower end of the carrier from which the card support has been removed. Further, assuming that it is desired to transfer the group of cards C from the carrier on which they are held, it is only necessary to insert another carrier B behind the group of cards assembled on the carrier B and move the carrier B a sufficient distance to receive the tongues 12 of the cards positioned on carrier B, whereupon the entire group of cards may be readily transferred, in the same order, to the inserted carrier B. Briefly stated, the removability of the card support I4 from the card carrier 13 not only permits ready removal of cards from the carrier B but also permits the threading of another carrier into the group of cards assembled on the carrier B to facilitate a take-off and transfer. In connection with the lower end of the card carrier, it may be noted that the side edges of the flanges l-Hl are inclined inwardly at the bottom of the card carrier whereby insertion of said flanges into th spaces between the tongues l2 and the body portions of the cards C is facilitated.

Figure of the drawings illustrates a card carrier B mounted on a panel A and having a card support Mb of the same type as the card support M. The only difference between the two forms of card supports resides in the means for fastening or connecting the card support to the card carrier In Figure 5, the body portion Ha of the carrier B and the rear wall 19d of the card support are provided with mating snap fastener elements designated generally as 23a. In the arrangement shown the yielding eyelet portion of the fastener is formed on the card carrier body I! a while the yielding stud portion is formed on the rear wall !9a of the card support. Obvious- 1y, however, a reversal of these parts would still be within the scope of the invention.

Figure 6 illustrates a card carrier B adapted to be mounted on a panel A and having associated therewith a card support designated generally as Me. The carrier B includes a body portion H b and the oifset flanges iila for receiving the tongues i2 of the index cards. The body llb is provided with a plurality of openings H0 and adjacent keeper means Hd preferably in the form of holes or openings spaced from one edge of the openings He. The purpose of these spaced openings and associated keeper means is to permit of adjusting the card support He lengthwise of the card carrier and interlocking the card support and card carrier in a selected position.

The card support I40 consists of a body folded upon itself and having the slot Md at the fold, the said slot being intended to receive the lower end of the card carrier. The front wall Me is intended to receive and shield the lower edge of the card or cards resting on the support while the rear wall I!!!) is provided with a resilient hook 25 formed by folding over the upper narrowed edge or end of the wall 4% into parallel relation to said wall. The hook 25 is provided with a protuberance 2E so spaced with reference to the bight of the hook 25 that when the card support is assembled on the card carrier, the protuberance 2% will seat in the keeper opening I id associated with the corresponding opening Me. Assurning that the card support Me is interlocked with the carrier as shown in full lines in Figure 6, it will be a simple matter to adjust the support relative to the carrier by simply pushing upward- 1y on the support until the protuberance 26 on the hook 25 disengages the keeper opening lid. When the hook 25 fully registers with the opening He, the support will be free to be moved to another location on the carrier, such, for example, as that shown in dotted lines in Figure 6. In positioning the support M0 in a new location it is only necessary to cause the hook 25 to register with a selected opening Ho and then move the support downward for a sufficient distance to cause the protuberance 26 of the hook to engage with the keeper opening lid associated with the selected opening He.

Th purpose of providing ready adjustability of the card support Me with reference to the card carrier is to support the cards in an elevated position on the carrier when desired. For instance, if only a few cards are mounted on the carrier it is desirable to have these cards as near the top of the carrier as possible thereby to make them more readily visible as the panel on which the carrier is mounted comes into view in separating the various panels in the drawer. When more cards are added to the carrier the card support may be moved to a lower position on the carrier. Thus, this form of the invention makes it possible to always conveniently arrange the cards for ready inspection.

The upper portion of the carrier B is provided with a plurality of struck out projections 21 for receiving an indicia member 28. Also, the upper end of the carrier is formed with a rearwardly and downwardly extending panel engaging resilient hook 29 whose lower end is provided with a forwardly offset portion 39 intended to pass through an opening 3! formed in the body lib of the carrier so as to be exposed at the face of the carrier for finger manipulation. In practice, the panel A is preferably provided with a square opening 3| (1, for receiving the offset portion 36. Therefore, when the card carrier is mounted on the upper edge of the panel A it will be apparent that the card carrier and panel are held detachably interlocked. Due to the fact that the opening 3 la in the panel is spaced a sufiicient distance inwardly from the upperedge of the panel to correspond with the position of the offset 30 when the carrier is assembled on the panel, the abutting relation of the upper edge of the panel and the inside face of the fold which forms the hook 29, will prevent sidewise or twisting movement of the carrier with reference to the panel.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the detachability of the card support from the lower end of the card carrier has numerous advantages which not only facilitate the manipulation of the cards and carrier in effecting the transfer of cards, but which also provide for maintaining a group of cards in position to be readily seen on the panels while they are in the drawer.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will, of course, be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of con struction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination; a card panel, a card carrier, means for detachably mounting said card carrier on said card panel, a card support on the card carrier to support a card against downward movement along said card carrier, said card support being separate from said card carrier, and means operable by movement of said card support relative to said card carrier to attach and detach said card support to and from said card carrier.

2. A card carrier element to be detachably mounted on a card panel, a card holder element detachably engaged on the lower end portion of said card carrier, and spring tongue means carried by one of said elements and releasably engaged with the other of said elements to hold said card holder element detachably assembled with said card carrier element.

3. A card carrier element to be detachably mounted on a card panel, a card holder element detachably engaged on the lower end portion of said card carrier, and snap fastener means carried by one of said elements and releasably engaged with the other of said elements to hold said card holder element detachably assembled with said card carrier element.

4. In combination, a panel ,to be placed in the filing space of a drawer, a card carrier having means at its upper end for yieldingly embracing the top edge ofthe panel to normally hold the panel and carrier assembled, and a card support detachably mounted on the lower portion of the carrier.

' 5. In combination, a panel to be placed in the filing space of a drawer, a card "carrier having means at its upper end for yieldingly embracing the top edge of the panel to normally hold the panel and carrier assembled, a card support slidably mounted on the carrier, and means for securing said support to said carrier in different positions of adjustment of the support along the carrier.

6. In combination, a panel to be placed in the filing space of a drawer, a card carrier having means at its upper end for yieldingly embracing the top edge of the panel to normally hold the panel and carrier assembled, a card support in-- cluding a front wall and a rear wall connected. by a fold having a slot for receiving the body of the carrier, and means for securing said support to said carrier in different positions of adjustment of the support along the carrier.

7. In combination, a panel to be placed in the filing space of a drawer, a card carrier having means at its upper end for yieldingly embracing the top edge of the panel to normally hold the panel and carrier assembled, said carrier having a plurality of spaced openings and adjacent keeper means arranged at spaced intervals, and a card support comprising a member folded upon itself and having a slot at the fold to receive the carrierv body, said support having a spring tongue for entering a selected one of said openings and also having a keeper thereon to engage with the said keeper means adjacent the openings in the carrier.

8. In combination, a panel to be placed in the filing space of a drawer, a card carrier having means at its upper end for yieldingly embracing the top edge of the panel to normally hold the panel and carrier assembled, said carrier havin a plurality of openings arranged at spaced intervals thereon, a card support of U-shaped cross section having a slot in which the carrier is disposed whereby the support is slidably adjustable relative to thecarrier, and means on the support to enter any one of said openings and to cooperate with the carrier adjacent to any selected opening to detachably interlock the support with p the carrier.

9. In combination, a panel to be placed in the filing space of a drawer, a card carrier having means at its upper-end for yieldingly embracing the top edge of the panel to normally hold the panel and carrier assembled, said carrier having a plurality of openings arranged at spaced intervals thereon, a card support comprising a member folded upon itself to provide front and rear walls and having a slot in which the carrier is disposed whereby the support is slidably adjustable relative to the carrier, said front wall being disposed forwardly of the carrier and said rear wall being disposed rearwardly of the carrier, and a resilient hook formed on the rear wall and adapted, by sliding movement of the support relative to the carrier, to enter a selected one of said openings and to embrace a portion of the carrier adjacent to any selected opening to positively hold the support against downward movement relative to the carrier.

10. The combination as set forth in claim 9 in which the hook is formed for frictional cooperation with the carrier to hold the support against upward movement relative to the carrier.

11. Card index means comprising a card carrier having means for engaging and retaining thereon a plurality of cards, a card support mounted on said carrier for vertical adjustment therealong, and means for positively holding said support against downward movement relative to said carrier in various difierent positions of adjustment of said support relative to said carrier.

12. Card index means comprising a card carrier having means for engaging and retaining thereon a plurality of cards, a card support mounted on said carrier for vertical adjustment therealong, and quickly engageable and disengageable interengageable means on said carrier and said support for positively holding the support against downward movement relative to the carrier in various different positions of adjustment of the support relative to the carrier.

13. Card index means comprising a card carrier having means for engaging and retaining thereon a plurality of cards, a card support mounted on said carrier for vertical adjustment therealong, means for positively holding said support against downward movement relative to said carrier in various different positions of adjustment of said support relative to said carrier, and means for frictionally resisting upward movement of said support relative to said carrier in various difierent positions of adjustment of said support relative to said carrier.

14. Card index means comprising a card carrier having means for engaging and retaining thereon a plurality of cards, a card support mounted on said carrier for vertical adjustment therealong, and quickly engageable and disengageable interengageable means on said carrier and said support operable positively to hold the support against downward movement relative to the carrier and operable frictionally to hold the support against upward movement relative to the carrier in each of a plurality of various different positions of adjustment of the support relative to the carrier.

15. Card index means comprising, in combination, a panel, a card carrier having means for engaging and retaining thereon a plurality of cards, means for suspending said carrier from said panel, a card support mounted on said carrier for vertical adjustment therealong, and means for securing said support to said carrier in various different positions of adjustment of said support relative to said carrier.

16. Card index means comprising a carrier having means for engaging and retaining thereon a plurality of cards, said carrier having a series .of vertically spaced openings, a card holder mounted on said. carrier for vertical adjustment therealong, and means on said holder for engagement in any one of said openings and for cooperation with a portion of the carrier adjacent to any selected opening to hold the holder against downward movement relative to the carrier.

17. Card index means comprising a carrier having a series of vertically spaced openings, a card holder mounted on said carrier for vertical adjustment therealong, and a hook on said holder insertable in any one of said openings and, by downward movement of the holder relative to the carrier, engageable with the carrier below any selected opening in which it may be inserted to positively hold the holder against downward movement and to frictionally resist its upward movement relative to the carrier.

18. Card index means comprising a card carrier having means for engaging and slidably retaining thereon a plurality of cards, means for detachably mounting said card carrier on a support, a card support mounted on said card carrier for adjustment therealong and for detachment therefrom, and means for securing said card support to said card carrier in any of a plurality of positions of adjustment of said card support along said carrier.

19. Card index means comprising a card carrier having means for engaging and slidably retaining thereon a plurality of cards, means for detachably mounting said card carrier on a support, a card support adjustable along said card carrier, and means for retaining said card support on said card carrier in difierent positions of adjustment of said card support along said card carrier.

FREDERICK L. G. STRAUBEL. 

